How Smell Affects Sex

Why does a rose smell like a rose? We know it looks like a rose because we can define shape, texture, and color. But to define its smell is beyond us. Smell is the sense we know the least about and, like all mysteries, it holds enormous erotic potential.

Scientists know that the olfactory nerve is the only one of the cranial nerves that leads directly to the seat of feelings in the brain. Smell is the sense that arouses emotion more than any other, a fact that has made millions for perfume manufacturers.

One New York psychiatrist believes the effect of smell on the emotions is so important that he uses it to surface emotional problems in his patients. Humans have a memory storehouse containing a thousand smells, the release of which (like the taste of Proust's madeleine) could conjure up experiences long suppressed.

Jasmine reminds me of adolescent grapplings in and out of various parked convertibles on Hollywood's fragrant Mulholland Drive. A friend, who also remembers that drive, once planted jasmine under her bedroom window to heal an ailing marriage. It failed.

Smell has what psychologists call "affective tone"; You are more likely to react violently to a smell than to a vision or a sound, and some people are more susceptible to the affective tone in odors than others. Bing Crosby in his heyday sang of love more convincingly if the sound stage was flooded with heliotrope.

So important has smell become to our lives there's even been a revival of the ancient art of aromatherapy. At one spa, a 10-day rejuvenation session includes "fragrance therapy," or revitalization through inhaling herbs, flowers, and animal essences. At a center in Berkshire, a doctor treats emotional ills with the wafting odor of certain wild flowers.

A Class in Aromatherapy

Aromatherapist Jeanne Rose, who held classes in smell at the University of California in San Francisco and conducted seminars at the Esalen institute in Big Sur, derived much of her method from the medieval herbalists who felt that smelling herbs constantly would preserve health. From time to time they prescribed strong aromatic love-amulets for court ladies to wear between their breasts.

Jeanne Rose's classroom was thick with the aroma of herbs, flowers, and fruits, in their natural state or compressed into oils. They were passed from student to student and their emotional effects are recorded. Which is calming? Which exciting? Once a student decides which smells affect her, she keeps them with her to enhance pleasure and to calm her when she is emotionally threatened. Jeanne Rose, for example, carries violets to soothe her nerves.

Her book Herbs and Things tells how to make love baths containing musk and civet, erotic pillows, aphrodisiac teas, and a jasmine cleanse (jasmine was considered an aphrodisiac by ancient Romans). With the smell of one of Miss Rose's odorous teas of ginseng and cardamom, and an erotic pillow made to specification from "scent recall," one woman lured her husband home from the skin-flicks, where he'd been spending most of his time.

The aromatherapists are not the only people intrigued by the therapeutic effect of smell. Dr. Robert D. Kolodny of Masters and Johnson's Reproductive Biological Research Foundation was so intrigued by the role odor plays in our lives that he launched a 10-year study of the subject. He kept his research secret until all the facts were in, but this was known early on: Masters and Johnson were studying pheromones, chemical substances produced by animals that, when emitted, seem to say: follow this trail, there's food ahead, or safety, or sex. Obviously, pheromones are important for the survival of animals, and perhaps for humans.

Do humans release their own pheromones? Dr. Stanley Freeman, an organic chemist employed by International Flavors and Fragrances, who frequently consulted with Dr. Kolodny, says that "man did react anatomically to pheromones sometimes in prehistory" and that he'd "go out on a limb and say we still do." What the doctor means, I think, is that man was once turned on more by a woman's smell than by her wicked blue eyes. And perhaps he'd still be sniffing if he weren't suppressing his primordial instincts.

Pheromone Perfumes

Dr. Freeman's company decided the odor of cornflakes gives cars that "new car smell," and makes disposable diapers smell as people imagine babies ought to smell. Which raises a question: can we expect pheromones in laundry detergent or our toothpaste? Even now, behind closed doors, scientists are trying to synthesize pheromones. What can they have in mind?

This brings us to the perfume we wear. Paul Woolard, the former president of Revlon's Cosmetic and Fragrance Division, was right out front with pheromones. At a "psychoscentual" promotion, he introduced a new fragrance to 250 beauty editors: "Pheromones are what makes a male civet cat (or any primate) go bananas over a female civet cat (or any other female primate) in heat."

About this civet cat: he, the musk deer, and the sperm whale have contributed their body secretions (civet, musk, and ambergris) to erotic concoctions ever since the first horny medieval wayfarer happened on their earthy, sweet, sensual odor. These three substances were aphrodisiacs long before they were tidily packaged as perfume fixatives. Ambergris was drunk in chocolate. Civet was used in a lady's bath to cure frigidity. The mosques of the East, where musk was mixed with mortar, are still redolent with its odor, as were the walls of Empress Josephine's bedroom at Fontainebleau.

The animal quality of commercial fragrances is no longer just a fixative; It is now an important selling point for perfume labels. Musk ranks first for sales potential. "Civet and ambergris are names which haven't taken off well," says Woolard. But the odor of musk is more appealing sexually than that of ambergris. Musk, taken from a sac near the genitals of the Himalayan musk deer, comes at a hefty price per pound, while synthesized versions of animal essences, used for cheaper scents, ring in at much less. Musk, whether real or artificial, is said to increase the heartbeat and perfumers suggest placing it at pulse points, vaguely hinting that it also might well be applied to other, more intimate areas. In fact, smell is so inextricably tied up with sex that obstetricians and gynecologists held symposiums on the use of perfume as a means of sexual communication.

Scent-Based Aphrodisiacs

Since smell is so closely tied to sex drive and sexual communication, it makes sense that companies would create products with this in mind. Just as the sense of touch is used to heighten arousal, the primal instinct of smell can also be of use when finding a mate. While everyone has different specific smells that get them going, tried and true scents like ylang ylang, ginger, and even licorice are well known scents that are as impressive as turn-ons.

Pheromones exude from women and men, and no two individuals come with the same scent, similar to the unique scent of Glam Jasmine Eau de Parfum Spray by Michael Kors. Jasmine is a natural aphrodisiac of the senses, and this fragrance focuses solely on that euphoric smell, including Egyptian jasmine, jasmine samba, and jasmine petals. Woody cedar and crisp citrus hint through, only to accentuate the feminine smell that is featured in this beautiful spray.

Sephora Collection's Super Supreme Body Butter is a must have. Complete with shea, illipe, and mango, the body butter keeps skin moisturized so you will be ready for anything. It contains a high concentration of HydroSenn+, a natural ingredient that keeps skin feeling soft, luxurious, and hydrated. The natural ingredients give off a subtle yet sexy scent that is hard to resist.

Certain perfumes may be an aphrodisiac in and of themselves. You know the feeling you get when you smell a well cologned man or a woman whose scent is one of a kind? Guerlain’s La Petite Robe Noire can bring that feeling out in your date. It has features hints of black cherry, rose, and ends with licorice and smoky black tea. The perfume’s exhilarating blend is not overwhelming, rather fresh and enigmatic, and will have you on the minds of just about any individual you come in contact with.

Tom Ford’s Soleil Blanc Shimmering Body Oil allows you to accentuate your sun kissed skin. Silky and lightweight so as not to take a toll on your skin, this oil gives off an intoxicating, addictive scent. With notes of bergamot, pistachio, and cardamom oil, an aromatherapeutic agent, Soleil Blanc is as seductive as it is refreshing.

Bath bombs are a great way to set the mood. Made of compact dry ingredients which give off bubbles when dropped in the water, they always add an extra dimension to your bath. The Love Bath Bomb Gift Set makes your bath time even more steamy. This set of three comes in an extra large size. They include botanical ingredients such as ylang ylang, ho wood, palmarosa, and ginseng extract which with mix with aphrodisiac oils to create an erotic atmosphere and elevate the mood.